ATP tennis official slapped with 10-year ban and huge fine over match corruption
A bronze-badge tennis official has been suspended for 10 years after admitting to four breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program. Marko Ducman has also been slapped with a huge £60,000 ($75,000) fine, with £45k ($56k) of the amount suspended. Ducman has previously officiated at ATP, WTA and ITF events but will now be banned from attending any professional tennis event.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced the 10-year and six-month ban on Thursday following an investigation that Ducman co-operated with. The international-level official waived their right to a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer and accepted an agreed sanction.
Ducman’s match corruption breaches include wagering on tennis matches and manipulating data from matches in which they were an official to facilitate betting. The umpire has been provisionally suspended since September 8.
The ban will now be backdated, meaning it expires on March 7, 2034. In this time, the Slovenian umpire cannot attend or officiate at any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the ATP, ITF, WTA, Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open, or any national association.
The ITIA announced news of Ducman’s provisional suspension on September 23. The decision was imposed under a section of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme which states: “There is a likelihood that the Covered Person has committed a Major Offense and in the absence of a Provisional Suspension, the integrity of tennis would be undermined and the harm resulting from the absence of a Provisional Suspension outweighs the Hardship of the Provisional Suspension on the Covered Person.”
Ducman did not appeal the suspension at the time. He will not have to pay £45k of his £60k fine if he does not re-offend. The news comes just days after five tennis players were sanctioned for breaches of the Anti-Corruption Programme, linked to a recently concluded criminal case involving a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium.
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